History
The current hotel describes itself as having "first opened its doors, as a gentlemen's chamber for the English aristocracy, in 1892". [3] At that time the original St James's Club was elsewhere, and the buildings at 7-8 Park Place were erected as blocks of flats in 1891-92. [4] They were originally planned with forty-four sets of residential chambers, plus service rooms. [5] The sporting Sir John Dugdale Astley, 3rd Baronet, died in his chambers at 7, Park Place, 10 October 1894. [6]
Before the building's construction, a club known as the Field Club operated at the 7 Park Place address in 1889. On 13 May of that year, police raided the club and found baccarat in progress. Twenty-one persons were arrested, "among whom were three English and several French and Belgian noblemen..." Among those arrested were the Earl of Dudley (later Governor-General of Australia), William Brownlow, 3rd Baron Lurgan, son of Charles Brownlow, 2nd Baron Lurgan, 'Lord Paulet' (probably a son of the 15th Marquess of Winchester) and Baron Ferraro. [7]
By 1960, the 7-8 Park Place flats were being called Old St James's House, a name apparently without historical support. In the spring of 2008, following extensive renovation, the building was reopened as 'The St James's Hotel and Club'. [3] Within the hotel is the renovated and repurposed space St James's Club founded by Peter de Savary, who marketed it to resonate with the panache associated with the historic St James's Club founded in 1857 by Earl Granville and the Marchese d'Azeglio. The team of the St James’s Hotel and Club received the Olympic torch on the day before the opening of the Games.
On 5 November 2010, Pakistani Nishat Group bought the hotel for £60 million. [8]
Belton House is a Grade I listed country house in the parish of Belton near Grantham in Lincolnshire, England, built between 1685 and 1687 by Sir John Brownlow, 3rd Baronet. It is surrounded by formal gardens and a series of avenues leading to follies within a larger wooded park. Belton has been described as a compilation of all that is finest of Carolean architecture, said to be the only truly vernacular style of architecture that England had produced since the Tudor period. It is considered to be a complete example of a typical English country house; the claim has even been made that Belton's principal façade was the inspiration for the modern British motorway signs which give directions to stately homes.
Piccadilly is a road in the City of Westminster, London, England, to the south of Mayfair, between Hyde Park Corner in the west and Piccadilly Circus in the east. It is part of the A4 road that connects central London to Hammersmith, Earl's Court, Heathrow Airport and the M4 motorway westward. St James's is to the south of the eastern section, while the western section is built up only on the northern side. Piccadilly is just under 1 mile (1.6 km) in length, and it is one of the widest and straightest streets in central London.
Lurgan is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland, near the southern shore of Lough Neagh and roughly 18 miles (29 km) southwest of Belfast. The town is linked to Belfast by both the M1 motorway and the Belfast–Dublin railway line. Lurgan had a population of about 28,634 at the 2021 UK census, and falls within the Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon district. For certain purposes, Lurgan is treated as part of the "Craigavon Urban Area", along with neighbouring Craigavon and Portadown.
Mentmore Towers, historically known simply as "Mentmore", is a 19th-century English country house built between 1852 and 1854 for the Rothschild family in the village of Mentmore in Buckinghamshire. Sir Joseph Paxton and his son-in-law, George Henry Stokes, designed the building in the 19th-century revival of late 16th and early 17th-century Elizabethan and Jacobean styles called Jacobethan. The house was designed for the banker and collector of fine art Baron Mayer de Rothschild as a country home, and as a display case for his collection of fine art. The mansion has been described as one of the greatest houses of the Victorian era. Mentmore was inherited by Hannah Primrose, Countess of Rosebery, née Rothschild, and owned by her descendants, the Earls of Rosebery.
Stratford Place is a small road in London, off Oxford Street, opposite Bond Street underground station. The road is a cul-de-sac.
The Ritz London is a 5-star luxury hotel at 150 Piccadilly in London, England. A symbol of high society and luxury, the hotel is one of the world's most prestigious and best known. The Ritz has become so associated with luxury and elegance that the word "ritzy" has entered the English language to denote something that is ostentatiously stylish, fancy, or fashionable.
The East India Club is a gentlemen's club founded in 1849 and situated at 16, St James's Square in London. The full title of the club is East India, Devonshire, Sports and Public Schools' Club due to mergers with other clubs. The club was originally founded for officers of the East India Company, and its first Patron was Prince Albert.
Carlton House, sometimes Carlton Palace, was a mansion in Westminster, best known as the town residence of King George IV, particularly during the regency era and his time as prince regent. It faced the south side of Pall Mall, and its gardens abutted St James's Park in the St James's district of London. The location of the house, now replaced by Carlton House Terrace, was a main reason for the creation of John Nash's ceremonial route from St James's to Regent's Park via Regent Street, Portland Place and Park Square: Lower Regent Street and Waterloo Place were originally laid out to form the approach to its front entrance.
Theobalds House in the parish of Cheshunt in the English county of Hertfordshire, north of London, was a significant stately home and (later) royal palace of the 16th and early 17th centuries.
The Naval and Military Club, known informally as The In & Out, is a private members' club located in St James's Square, London. It was founded in 1862 for officers of the Navy and Army. It now also accepts female members, and members who have not served in the armed forces, but continues to observe service traditions.
The United University Club was a London gentlemen's club, founded in 1821. It occupied the purpose-built University Club House, at 1, Suffolk Street, London, England, from 1826 until 1971.
The St James's Club was a London gentlemen's club which operated between 1857 and 1978. It was founded by two leading diplomats and its members continued to be largely diplomats and authors. It was first established in Bennet Street, and after a brief spell in Mayfair, moved to 106 Piccadilly by 1868. In the final quarter of the twentieth century many gentlemen’s clubs of London suffered from declining membership, and in 1978 the St James's Club merged with Brooks's Club and vacated its premises.
The Army and Navy Club in London is a private members' club founded in 1837, also known informally as The Rag.
Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, London, is a five-star hotel, located in the Knightsbridge area of London, owned and managed by Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group. Housed in a historic, Edwardian-style building, the hotel originally opened in 1908 as the Hyde Park Hotel and in 1996 the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group purchased the property and conducted a full renovation, consequently re-opening in May 2000.
The Hon. Sir John Duncan Bligh KCB, DL was a British diplomat.
Charles Brownlow, 1st Baron Lurgan PC, was an Anglo-Irish politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1818 to 1832, during which time he recanted his Orange Order opposition to Catholic emancipation. He was raised to the peerage in 1839.
Brooks's is a gentlemen's club in St James's Street, London. It is one of the oldest and most exclusive gentlemen's clubs in the world.
Wimbourne House is a historic townhouse at 22 Arlington Street in St James's, a district of the City of Westminster in central London, England. Designed in the Neo-Palladian style by William Kent, it was built between 1743 and 1754, being completed after the architect's death. It is a Grade II* listed building, and the west front overlooks Green Park. The building now houses special event rooms for the adjacent Ritz Hotel.
William Brownlow, 3rd Baron Lurgan KCVO was an Anglo-Irish aristocrat, landowner, hotel proprietor, and sportsman.
The 1821 Coronation Honours were appointments by King George IV to various orders and honours on the occasion of his coronation on 19 July 1821. The honours were published in The London Gazette on 14, 24 and 28 July 1821.
